SPIED! Cadillac ATS mule

What's under this CTS body is the future small Cadillac based on the Alfa platform.

Look out, and —a baby Cadillac is coming! We've known since last year that Cadillac has been working on a small CTS for 2012, dubbed the ATS. We've heard rumors about a new rear-drive architecture—called Alfa—for quite some time, and we suspect this is it. This same platform will likely be used for the next .

On first inspection, what we see here is just a . A closer look reveals that it's not just a CTS. First thing to notice are the wheel sizes, and their placement in the wheel arches. The underlying platform clearly has a significantly shorter wheelbase than the current CTS. And the gas fill-neck has been moved forward. At this new smaller size, the new Cadillac will be more closely aligned in overall size with its competitors.

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Unlike earlier mules we've seen, this car has small brakes and a small single exhaust. We can predict that it will be available with a 4-cylinder engine—likely the 2.4-liter direct-injection Ecotec that just began production this year. That would be the base engine, we believe it's powering this model. From there, the engine options could expand to the turbocharged 2.0-liter from the same family line, the one used in the new . The turbocharged 4-cylinder makes good horsepower, between 220 and 300 bhp depending on tuning. Then there's the big 3.0-liter V-6 that would be the top-line fitment. Following its introduction, there's the possibility of the 2.8-liter twin-turbo V-6 from the powering an ATS-V.

In the meantime, ponder these images and tell us if you think we've missed anything in our analysis.